The sound of gunshots, shouts of death, the collision of metal, and the roar of gunpowder exploded together on the small plain between Jushui and Hanshui!
Thirty thousand heavily armed soldiers were shooting at each other with muskets, charging at each other with lances, and throwing javelins tied with grenades at each other. Oh, there are also rounds of cavalry attacks!
The 1,500 armored cavalry commanded by Shang Zhixin were undoubtedly the trump card in Shang Kexi's hands. The first wave of their attacks destroyed two battalion-level phalanxes of Dashun Army.
The infantry battalions of the Dashun Army have always had the problem of weak anti-cavalry capabilities. They have more sword and shield men and fewer pikemen. Although the musketeers' matchlocks are equipped with bayonets, Dashun's musketeers are all equipped with bayonets. Master Fubing, they prefer to use waist knives instead of bayonets for hand-to-hand combat... because they are more confident in their sword skills!
In addition, because there is an 80-man pike team, the musketry team and the sword team of the Dashun Army Infantry Battalion are also accustomed to handing over the task of defending the cavalry to the pike team, so there is often confusion in scheduling when facing battle... ..
The combination of various factors allowed the Ming army's heavy cavalry to overwhelm the Dashun army's infantry phalanx from the front.
When Shang Zhixin ended the first wave of attacks and led the cavalry to retreat, the 12 infantry battalions in the rear also launched an attack under the command of Shang Kexi.
The infantry battalions under Shang Kexi's command are all so-called "mountain battalions", which are similar to the infantry battalions of the Dashun Army. They also have fewer pikemen and are equipped with a large number of sword and shield soldiers. Although this kind of organization is good for mountain warfare, it is not strong enough to fight against cavalry on the plains.
Moreover, the firepower of this kind of mountain camp is not as good as that of the Guards, which is equipped with a large number of flintlocks (three-quarters of the soldiers are equipped with flintlocks).
But now both sides have similar equipment and tactics, so the fight is evenly matched. The musketeers on both sides fired at each other thirty or forty steps apart, and their accuracy was not very good. However, the smoke in front of the two armies' formations was quite thick, and it soon became difficult to see clearly.
Under the cover of gunpowder smoke, the sword and shield soldiers from both sides launched a charge almost simultaneously, first throwing "explosive javelins" at each other, and then engaging in hand-to-hand sword and shield combat...
Dashun's left wing also quickly took action, outflanking Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun's right wing. However, they were infantry and could not move as fast as the cavalry. Before they could move in place, Kong Tingxun, who was commanding from a high place, immediately mobilized 8 infantry battalions to push forward, temporarily resisting the outflanking Dashun army.
At the same time, Kong Tingxun also detached 6 infantry battalions to cover Shang Zhixin's cavalry. The specific method was to press forward and shoot at the enemy with matchlock guns, create smoke on the battlefield, and then use the smoke to cover the cavalry to attack again.
As long as the right wing of Dashun Army can be defeated, victory in today's decisive battle will be achieved... At least in Kong Tingxun's view, the situation is so optimistic!
At this moment, Kong Tingxun suddenly heard one of his own soldiers shouting: "General soldier! The bandits' cavalry... The bandits have cavalry!"
How fresh! Of course the rogue bandits have cavalry. How can they rogue without cavalry?
Kong Tingxun stretched his neck and walked around the battlefield, but he didn't see the cavalry! Where?
"There are so many cavalry on the other side of the river!"
Across the river? Hanshui? Jushui?
Kong Tingxun was stunned, quickly raised his telescope, and then turned to look. When he saw it, he almost fell off his horse. Because he saw a large group of cavalry driving out from a large forest on the other side of Jushui. The number was probably no less than 1,000!
There was certainly nothing to fear from the 1,000 Dashun Army cavalry, but Kong Tingxun saw through the telescope that the ears of the horses under the crotches of the cavalry were all turned inwards.
This is a Tianzhu broken-eared horse! Why are there so many broken-eared horses in the Dashun Army... That's right! Only then did Kong Tingxun remember that the rogue bandits had just gone to Tianzhu to pass through last year? That's the hometown of folded horses, so it wouldn't be surprising to bring back one or two thousand of them.
And 1,000 knights riding Tianzhu fold-eared horses and 1,000 knights riding short-footed Yunnan horses and Sichuan horses are completely different!
Now a total of 1,000 plate-armored knights riding Tianzhu fold-eared horses are coming towards the hillside where Kong Tingxun is, and they are about to cross the Ju River.
The Ju River is not the Han River, it is not very deep, and it is not very wide. It is the bitter water season now, so it can be forded.
Moreover, the woods where this cavalry is lurking are located due east of Kong Tingxun's formation, less than five miles away from him. Once they cross the Ju River, they will immediately rush to Kong Tingxun.
"General, general soldier, the bandits' infantry! Follow their cavalry..." The soldier shouted again.
What? There are also large groups of infantry! ?
Kong Tingxun quickly used the telescope to look again. At first glance, he took a breath!
Dashun infantrymen were swarming out from the crowd like a tide, at least tens of thousands of them! If it breaks through Jushui, everything will be over.
"Hurry up, follow me quickly, we have to stop the bandits, we can't let them cross the Jushui!"
"Can't help it...they still have cannons!"
The cannon was also pulled out. It was a 6-pound bronze cannon made in the Netherlands. One by one, it was dragged out of the woods by short draft horses.
Seeing these cannons, Kong Tingxun knew that the situation was over. However, he still took the bullet and led three battalions down the mountain, hoping to set up defenses near Jushui. But Jushui is quite long and winds for seven or eight miles on the side of Kong Tingxun. How can three battalions hold it? Dashun's cavalry were not blind. When they saw them setting up defenses, they walked away from them and chose a ford far away from Kong Tingxun's headquarters to start fording.
At this time, the Ming army who was fighting fiercely with the Dashun army in the front also realized that something was wrong, and there was a fire behind them!
The originally dominant battle situation suddenly reversed. The panicked officers and soldiers could no longer maintain their formation and began to retreat toward the northern hillside in a chaotic manner. The Dashun Army in front of them also took the opportunity to counterattack, with loud killing sounds, and pressed forward across the board.
Seeing that something was wrong, Kong Tingxun did not dare to resist anymore, and he could not resist, so he had to take a few battalions of infantry that were still intact and ran towards the mountain pass retreating to Lueyang.
And when he ran, Shang Kexi's back was completely empty.
The 1,000 Dashun cavalry who had just crossed the Ju River had only a moment to organize themselves before they began to charge behind Shang Kexi and Shang Zhixin's troops.
This is simply a textbook heavy cavalry attack - the cavalry went around the enemy's rear and rushed towards the enemy's back!
The first to collapse were the infantry battalions covering Shang Zhixin's cavalry charge. They were the closest to the rogue cavalry crossing the Ju River, and they were swept away before they had time to react!
The person who led the attack was Li Sixing, the second son of Li Dingguo. As early as last winter, he was ordered to form an elite cavalry equipped with broken-eared horses.
Establishing cavalry is not difficult for Dashun, who resolutely implements the fubing system. Most of the second-generation people from the middle and upper class fubing families are good at riding, but the problem is that they don't have good horses.
Now that there are more than 1,000 broken-eared horses that Li Jicheng brought back from India, it is certainly not difficult to establish an elite cavalry regiment.
And these 1,000 cavalry became Li Dingguo's trump card!
After overpowering several Ming infantry battalions, Li Sixing did not tangle with the scattered Ming troops. Instead, he rushed towards Shang Zhixin's troops, whose power had weakened and was about to flee.
With just one charge, Shang Zhixin's cavalry was dispersed. Young Master Shang, who was so majestic just now, also died in the rebel army and became a loyal martyr of the Ming Dynasty!
Li Sixing's next target is Shang Kexi who has escaped. Shang Kexi is tall and rides a good horse. Under the heavy protection of his own soldiers, his goal is obvious! Being chased by more than a thousand Dashun cavalry, there was no way to survive. They were soon trapped in a tight siege. After a few dashes, they collided with a Dashun soldier and cavalry and fell off their horses. , he fell so hard that stars flashed in his eyes. Before he could recover, he was trampled by several galloping horses and became a loyal hero of the Ming Dynasty!
This time, I am glad that there are two more loyal and loyal people in the family. In addition to those who died for the country before, there is really a full family of loyal and loyal people!
